Interviews and Surveys

Interviews and Surveys

Interviews

Steinar Kvale, Svend Brinkmann, InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing.

The Interview

Interviewer Interviewee

Interview

Interviews

Unstructured

Semi-structured

Structured

Interviews

Unstructured Interviews Researcher has a small set of self

prompts to investigate research question. One question can lead to a number of followup questions depending on the response. They tend to be more like conversations than interviews.

Interviews

Semi-Structured Interviews Some interview questions fully decided,

others might not be fixed, and the other of questions in not fixed. The researcher has leeway in asking followup questions.

Interviews

Structured Interviews Fixed and predetermined questions and

sequence of questions. No new questions added during interview, and questions given to interviewee by interview begins.

Kvale’s Seven Stages

1. Themazing2. Designing3. Interviewing4. Transcribing5. Analyzing6. Verifying7. Reporting


1. Themazing

What is the theme of the interview?


2. Designing

How will the intended knowledge be obtained?


3. Interviewing

Conduct the interviews carefully


4. Transcribing

Converting interview into written text


5. Analyzing

Based on the appropriate type of investigation


6. Verifying

Checking that validity, reliability, and generalizibility of the findings


7. Reporting

Communicate findings in a scientific and ethical manner.

Interview Questions

Introductory Questions

Warm up questions Followup

Questions Listen for “Red Lights”

Probing Questions Unlimited scope

question Specifying

Questions Exact information

Direct Questions Introducing a new topic

Indirect Questions Projective questions

Structuring Questions

Transitioning to new topics

Interpreting Question

Clarifying questions Silences

Interviews

Establish a rapport Treat interviewees with respect Think about your appearance Think about body language Maintain firm eye contact Don’t Invade their space

Interviews

How are you going to record Tape recorder Pen and paper - veratim Video recorder

Analysing Text

Analysing Text

Faced with the lack of organisation of data and the sheer amount of rambling can be somewhat overwhelming

With the best will in the world about trying to avoid bias, when there is multiple interpretations of data, selecting the one that best matches your research question becomes very tempting.

Simple Tabulation

Subject Money Fame Power Social Fulfilment Other

1 15 6 4 0 1 38

2 5 3 6 5 4 27

3 1 0 3 12 21 46

…..

Total

Reasons for Choosing a career

Choosing categories

Use ones from the literature Blame someone else / comparison

Use categories connected with your research question

Derive categories from data

Deriving Categories

Verbatim Analysis Knowledge management <> Knowledge engineering <>

Knowledge representation <> Knowledge reasoning “Compatible with Windows” <> “Windows-Compatible”

Gist Analysis “Compatible with Windows” == “Windows-Compatible”

Superordinate Analysis Derive superclasses Windows-Compatible + Linux-Compatible => category of

“Compatibility”

How are you going to analyse

Colour Coding

Analysis of Interviews

Meaning Analysis

Meaning Coding Adding tags or keywords to text segments

that represent the main themes of the interviews

Meaning Condensation Summarising larger sentences into short,

simple sentences. Meaning Interpretation

Adding more details, background and context to specific parts of the interview

Language Analysis

Linguistical Analysis Looking at the linguistics and grammar

Conversation Analysis Treating the interview as a conversation

Narrative Analysis Treating the interview as a story

Discourse Analysis Try to evaluate the truth of the responses

Deconstruction Taking the interview apart and putting together again

Eclectic Analysis

Bricolage Using a collection of techniques as a

collage Theoretical Reading

Creating your own reading on the text

Interviews FAQ

What books should I read about interviews?

Anything and everything by Steinar Kvale

“Interpreting Qualitative Data” by David Silverman

“Research Design” by John Creswell

Do I need to record the interview?

Yes, definitely, you can use Pen-and-paper Audio recording Video recording

But whichever you use, you must do a verbatim recording of the interview, both questions and answers.

How do I think of questions for the interview?

There really should be two sources All questions need to come from the

research question of the experiment If you find literature with a sufficiently

similar research topic, you can use or adapt those questions

How many people should I interview?

15 ±10 people

is a good rule-of thumb

Are there situations where I shouldn’t use interviews?

Yes, loads of situations, e.g. electoral voting behaviour, or capturing a person’s attitudes and interactions with their environments.

When should I do the interviews?

Typically there are two times to do interviews; As part of the requirements gathering

process As part of the evaluation process

Are there software packages that can help me ??

Loads ATLAS.ti nVIVO MaxQDA NUD*IST HyperRESEARCH

But, do not underestimate the power of Excel, it’s a brilliant tool when used well

Further Tips

Decide on an order of questions that easily flows one to the next

Try to use language that is easy to understand and relevant to the interviewee

Avoid Leading questions Try to stop the interviewee using qualifiers Add a few control questions into the interview for

validation Avoid smalltalk during the interview LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN

Questionnaires

A.N. Oppenheim, Questionnaire Design

Questionnaire

Identify which organisation you work for, or are studying at.

Check your grammar, twice (Rule of Thumb – two proofreads gets rid of 95% of errors).

Surveys: Questionnaires Think clearly about questions (need to

constrain answers as much as possible)

Make sure results will answer your research question

Can use Internet for conducting surveys if need to cover wide geographic reach

Surveys: Questionnaires “This survey sets out to ...

Please note if you fill in this questionnaire, your answers will be treated in highly confidential way. Neither I, the Dublin Institute of Technology nor any other third part will identify your name, email address or any other personal details, nor will it be possible to identify you in any way in the report I will publish as part of my MSc dissertation. I would like to personally thank you for your time in taking part in this survey.”

Questionnaires

Open-ended Close-ended Combination of both

Questionnaires

Open-ended Close-ended

Questionnaires

Open-ended Slower to administer Harder to record responses Does not stifle response Answerer can raise new issues Answerer feels they can speak their mind What does a blank answer mean ????

Questionnaires

Close-ended Faster to administer Easier to record responses Answerer can only give predefined answers Answerer cannot raise new issues Answerer feels constrained More likely to answer all questions (box tick)

Questionnaires

Self-administered

Interviewer administered

Questionnaires

Questionnaires

Keep questions short and simple Avoid questions with “not” Avoid questions with bias Avoid sensitive questions (ask indirectly) Do not ask compound questions, just ask

one question at a time e.g. "Do you know what services are available to

you and how to find out?"

Questionnaires

Likert scales Poor, Weak, O.K., Good, Excellent Very Low, Low, O.K., High, Very High 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Thank them

"Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey"

Incentives

Survey research suggests that there is a chance that offering an incentive may add bias to a survey

e.g. Singer, E., Bossarte, R., 2006, “Incentives for Survey Participation: When Are They “Coercive”?, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 31, Issue 5, Pages 411-418

Other Useful Approaches

Focus groups

Take time to arrange, so prepare in advance (use an intermediary to help you if you can)

Who will be in your focus group? (e.g. age, gender)

Size of focus group (8-10 is typical) Consider whether or not to have separate

focus groups for different ages or genders (e.g. discussing sex and sexuality)

Site visits and observation

Site visits involve visiting an organization, community project etc

Consider using a guide Observation is when you visit a location and

observe what is going on, drawing your own conclusions

Both facilitate making your research more relevant and concrete

Case studies

Method of capturing and presenting concrete details of real or fictional situations in a structured way

Good for comparative analysis

Participatory research

Allows participation of community being researched in research process (e.g. developing research question; choosing methodology; analysing results)

Good way to ensure research does not simply reinforce prejudices and presumptions of researcher

Good for raising awareness in community and developing appropriate action plans

Education

Interviews and Surveys